The Trophy Vessel

About the Artist

Morten Løbner Espersen’s work is defined by a continuous exploration of clay as a medium of expression. His sources of inspiration include both the history of ceramics and specific figures such as George Ohr and Aksel Salto, whose mastery of imperfection and expressive use of glaze have influenced his practice.
His exploration encompasses forms such as cylindrical vessels —conceived as neutral canvases for glaze— and the Horror Vacui series, where he combines exuberant decoration with classical forms like amphorae or Moon jars. In these works he confronts the purity of form with the richness of surface, experimenting with color and glaze to create objects that reflect both technical control and openness to surprise and accident.
Educated at the School of Design in Copenhagen in the 1980s, he spent two decades working with hand-building before fully embracing the wheel, influenced by the Danish tradition of restraint and serenity, but also by French aesthetic excess. His work seeks to balance these tensions: formal simplicity and eccentric surfaces.
For the artist, ceramics embody the essential: time, patience, and repetition as almost meditative processes. He considers that in an increasingly digitalized world, clay offers the possibility to reconnect with the tangible, with a simple and ancient material that carries a long tradition while continuing to yield unexpected results.